Mundane Musings of the New Generation Happenings
by dragonfire5000
Summary: Going-ons in the lives of the Touhou cast and their children; sequel to "Mundane Musings of the New Generation Introductions."
1. New Member

**New Member**

Yakumo Ran knew from the looks on Yakumo Sou and Chen's faces that they had something they were afraid to tell her. "What's going on?" she asked, bracing herself.

"Um, Ran-sama…" Chen kept shuffling her feet while trying to avoid looking directly at the kitsune.

"We were wondering…" Sou also seemed quite nervous and Ran noticed that the young girl was holding something behind her back.

"What do you have there?" Ran asked as she peered over. "Is it another stray cat?"

"Actually…" Sou sheepishly revealed what she was holding and Ran found herself looking at a young fox cub, a little creature with light red fur curled up into a furry ball as it slept. The little animal looked a bit sickly and Ran instantly knew that it was a runt. "We found her near the donation box at the shrine."

"We couldn't just leave her there, so we brought it back," Chen said, giving Ran a wide-eyed pleading stare. "Please let us keep it! We promise we will take good care of her!"

"Sou, Chen…" Ran gave a sigh. "Listen to me, alright? Taking care of an animal is not an easy task; it is one that consists of many responsibilities. Sou, you need to understand that taking care of an animal doesn't mean just feeding her or brushing her fur. Baby animals like that are quite fragile, especially since it looks like that cub is a runt; you need to make sure that its need are taken care of, needs such as being fed, keeping her body in good condition, and giving her some space to exercise. Are you ready to take care of such responsibility?"

Ran turned to Chen next. "Chen, I know that you have taken care of many kittens, but a fox is quite different from a cat. You will have to make sure you are knowledgeable of the proper ways to care for a fox cub and that Sou knows them as well."

"I…I can do that!" Chen insisted. "So does that mean…?"

Ran gave the two girls a smile. "I suppose it would be a good experience for little Sou to learn how to take care of a pet. But Sou, you should talk to your parents about this. If they say yes, then you can keep her."

"Th-thank you!" Ran couldn't help but chuckle at the look of pure happiness on Sou's face; it was an expression she had often seen on Chen's face when the nekomata was younger, an expression that usually surfaced whenever Chen had done something that made Ran proud.

'_To think that Chen would be the one tutoring Sou on how to take care of a pet…she's definitely matured over the years…_'

"I'm sure Yukari-sama would let you keep her!" Chen said excitedly to Sou.

"I hope so…I've never asked Mommy and Daddy for a pet before…"

"Oh? What do you have there, Sou?" The voice of Yakumo Yukari caused the three to jump; the Youkai of Boundaries still kept her rather bad habit of appearing out of nowhere and was currently peering down at her daughter and the two shikigami from a gap she opened up. "Oh my, what a cute little fox!"

"Sou, did you pick up a stray animal?" Yukari's wife, Reimu, emerged from the gap as well, trying to get a closer look. "Where did you find it?"

"I found her near the donation box at the shrine!" Sou replied. "Please, can I keep her? I promise that I will be responsible and take good care of her!"

"Well, it's a big responsibility…" Reimu began before being interrupted.

"Let her keep it," Yukari gently insisted. "Sou has always been a good and responsible girl; I'm sure she can handle it."

"I can't argue with you there," Reimu said with a smile. "Alright Sou, you can keep her."

"Thank you, Daddy! Thank you Mommy!"

"But you know, that little cub sort of reminds me of Ran when I first found her," Yukari mused as she watched Sou and Chen celebrating. "To think she used to be so small and only had one tail…time sure flies."

"Did you have to ask anyone for permission to take her home?" Reimu teased.

"Does Yukari-sama ever ask for permission when she wants to take something or someone home?" Ran asked, a dry smile on her face.

This caused Reimu to burst into laughter as Yukari gave Ran a look of mock hurt. "No, she doesn't!"

* * *

><p><strong>For information on OCs, it would be best to read "Mundane Musings of the New Generation Introductions."<strong>

**It was kind of nice writing Chen in an older sister role; hopefully there will be more chances to write her like this**


	2. Surprise

**Surprise**

Saigyouji Mikage picked herself up from the ground after the force of Youmu's wooden sword clashing against hers sent her tumbling backwards. "I'm not done yet!" she cried out as she readied her stance once again.

"That's the spirit!" Youmu said approvingly as she too readied to strike once again. "Remember that reading your opponent is key; reflexes could save your life, but the ability to read your opponent and prepare accordingly is also vital to success!" With that, Youmu charged forward once again, a loud clacking sound resounding through the air as Mikage blocked the first strike. However, Youmu brought her sword in a horizontal strike that struck the practice armor her daughter was wearing. This once again sent Mikage flying to the side.

"Don't give up, Mikage!" Rei, the older Saigyouji sister, called from the sideline; she had already finished her practice session with Youmu and was now cheering on the sidelines. "Fight, Mikage, fight!"

Mikage picked herself up once again, wincing a little; though Youmu did not hit with all her strength and the practice armor soaked up quite a bit of the attack's force, it was still enough to sting. Mikage supposed it was supposed to serve as an incentive to not get hit, but it was still not a pleasant feeling at all. "One more time!"

Youmu was about to ready another strike once again before she froze. "Wait a moment. Girls, do you smell something?"

The two girls sniffed the air curiously. "I smell it too!" Rei exclaimed. Mikage nodded as well as her nose caught the scent that Youmu had pointed out.

"Strange…why would there be such a smell?" A look of horror suddenly came upon Youmu's face. "Don't tell me I left the kitchen stove on?" Youmu ran into the kitchen, closely followed by her two worried daughters. She threw open the kitchen door and promptly froze.

Her wife, Saigyouji Yuyuko, was holding a ladle and about to take a sip. She was standing in front of the stove where a pot of soup was bubbling and emitting pleasant-smelling vapors. "Oh? Done with practice already?" Yuyuko cheerfully asked. "The three of you should go take a bath before we eat!"

"Yu-Yuyu-Yuyuko-sama! What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking, of course!" Yuyuko replied.

"You…Yuyuko-sama…cooking…?" The two girls noted with a bit of alarm that steam seemed to be coming out of Youmu's head, as if she was having an extremely difficult time trying to comprehend what Yuyuko had said. "I…I don't get it…"

Yuyuko's face fell a little. "Youmu doesn't trust me?"

"N-No! It's not like that! It's just…Yuyuko-sama actually cooking something…"

"Is there something so strange about me cooking?" Yuyuko asked as she turned down the fire of the stove. "Or does Youmu have no faith in me whatsoever?"

"Yuyuko-sama, please stop making me look like the bad guy here! It's just that I've never seen you cook at all!"

"Well, there's always a first time for everything! Youmu, say ah~!"

"Mmph!" Youmu's eyes widened as the soup flowed into her mouth. As Yuyuko withdrew the ladle from her wife's mouth, Youmu swallowed and a shudder passed through her body as the soup warmed her entire body. "It's…it's actually not bad!" she exclaimed with pleasant surprise.

"Just not bad?" Yuyuko pouted.

"It's pretty good!" Youmu hastily backtracked before Yuyuko's mischievous grin told her that she was just being teased again. The two children began clamoring around their mother, curious what their mother's cooking tasted like. "But Yuyuko-sama, if you can cook, why do you always insist on eating my cooking?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Yuyuko said with a warm smile as she reached over and pulled Youmu into a hug. "It's because Youmu's food is always filled with love!"

Now Youmu was not sure whether or not the warm feeling coursing through her was from the soup or Yuyuko's words, but she was sure that it didn't matter. '_Yuyuko-sama's food is filled with love as well_…'

* * *

><p><strong>I got this idea from a doujin called "Blizzard of Cherry Petals" where, upon hearing that Yuyuko made some odango, Youmu freaks out and warns everyone that the odango could potentially explode or poison whoever ate them to death.<strong>

**I'm starting to think that Yuyuko's most effective weapon against Youmu is guilt-tripping.**


	3. The Tutor

**The Tutor**

"Master Spark!"

Dinah Kirisame aimed her mini-hakkero at a wooden board serving as a target and a blast of magic energy burst forth, shattering it into several small splinters. However, the little magician frowned, unsatisfied with her results.

"Damn it, why can't I get it as big as Daddy's?" she asked in frustration.

Dinah was about to plant another target into the ground for the next attempt when an amused voice floated through the air. "Oh my, what have we here?" Dinah turned towards the source of the voice and nearly stumbled backwards when she found herself face to face with Kazami Yuuka.

Dinah had heard several stories about Yuuka, many of them contradicting each other; some of the stories painted her as a gentle individual who only got mad if someone messed up her flowers while others portrayed her as a psychopathic monster that grounded the corpses of her victims into fertilizer. Dinah's parents themselves had often warned her about dealing with Yuuka. "Don't ever do anything to make her angry!" her dad had often said. "If she points that parasol at you, you run away as fast as you can! Make sure you keep moving to stay out of her line of fire and duck when she starts sweeping the area with her destruction beams!"

"H-Hello Kazami-san…"

"Practicing your Master Spark?" Yuuka asked as she glanced at the many bits of splintered wood strewn about the area as well as the pile of targets waiting to be blasted apart.

"Yeah, but I can't make the beam bigger…" Dinah muttered dejectedly.

Yuuka gave a small giggle. "Well, you can't really expect to create a big Master Spark instantly, you know. It takes quite a bit of practice in order to master such a technique, even if you have a mini-hakkero."

"But…but Daddy could! Everyone says that Daddy could already make a really big beam the first time she learned it!"

"Well, your father is considered to be a genius in picking up skills, but even she hasn't fully mastered the Master Spark yet. Here, let me show you what a Master Spark at full power looks like." Yuuka reached over and picked up one of the targets, throwing it up into the air with all her might.

"Remember that the Master Spark gains strength from your emotions. If your feelings are strong, than the resulting Master Spark will be much more powerful. Behold!" With that, Yuuka aimed her parasol at the falling target and unleashed her Master Spark.

There was a deafening blast as an enormous beam of energy burst from the parasol. The force of the blast was enough to send Dinah falling backwards though Yuuka herself remained calmly rooted to the ground. The monstrous Master Spark ripped through the air, shrieking and radiating pure power, and completely enveloped the wooden target. As soon as the Master Spark dissipated, there was a small cloud of dust that Dinah realized was all that remained of the target. Yuuka lowered her parasol, pleased with the result.

Dinah shakily got to her feet. "That…that was amazing!" she exclaimed.

"Keep on practicing and you will soon be able to do that as well," Yuuka said, turning towards Dinah with an amused smile as she saw the young magician's awestruck expression. "Also remember to properly channel your emotions to draw out the Master Spark's full potential."

"What sort of emotions?" Dinah asked. "Wait, Daddy often says that she uses love to power the Master Spark…what does Kazami-san use?"

Yuuka gave a small giggle. "Why don't you take a guess?"

Dinah was about to suggest 'anger' but soon realized it was probably a bad idea; she did not want to be the next target of Yuuka's Master Spark. "Um, do you use love as well?"

"Well…I guess you can say that," Yuuka answered thoughtfully. "Though if I were to say what emotion I use, I would say….happiness, maybe?"

"I…I see…"

"Well, keep on practicing, little Dinah," Yuuka said as she ruffled the little magician's hair. "When your Master Spark becomes more powerful, come show it to me alright?" With that, the flower youkai strode off, humming happily to herself.

Dinah was silent for a while as she reflected on what she saw. '_Could I really get it to be that big? Even Daddy never got it that big…is it because Kazami-san is a much more powerful youkai?_' However, this bit of self-doubt was quickly swept away as a fire of determination began to burn in her eyes. '_No! I won't let that stop me! Doubt will get me nowhere! I'll get it that big as well!_' With that, she hurried to set up another target.

* * *

><p><strong>This was an idea that I had been itching to write about for a while ever since I created the character Dinah Kirisame; I felt it would be quite interesting for Dinah to get some tutoring from the person who created the infamous Master Spark.<strong>

**As for characterization, I've always felt Yuuka is not as psychopathic or sadisitc as some make her out to be, but still capable of violence when angered. Still, I've included a bit of a nod to her alternate character interpretations in the story.**


	4. Pursuit of Knowledge

**Pursuit of Knowledge**

Hakurei Reimu stared at Lucy Scarlet and Pheles Knowledge in shock. "You want me to tell you what?" she asked disbelievingly.

"We want to know where babies come from!" the two girls replied.

"Shouldn't…shouldn't you ask your parents or Sakuya about this kind of thing?"

"Sakuya wouldn't say anything!" Lucy pouted. "Mommy and Daddy wouldn't either!"

"We also asked Mrs. Yukari and she said to ask you since you made her pregnant!" Pheles chimed in.

'_Damn it Yukari…_' "Look, I don't know how to explain it. It's a very complicated thing to explain and I'm not the right person to ask. Why don't you go ask someone else? Go ask Eirin or Keine; they should be able to tell you." A mischievous glint came to Reimu's eyes. "Eirin is a doctor and Keine is a teacher, so the two of them are obligated to tell you girls!"

OOOOOOOOOO

Needless to say, Keine was not amused when Lucy and Pheles cornered her and Eirin with the question.

"This isn't something you should be asking at your age!" Keine cried. "Obligation? That obligation only applies when you're mature enough to know about it!"

"Keine, calm down, alright? What's the harm in telling them?" Eirin asked, a bit of a cheeky smile on her face. "They're going to find eventually, so we might as well tell them now."

"No! Don't you say anything!" The werehakutaku turned toward the two rabbits accompanying Eirin. "That goes for you two as well!"

"Eh? Why?" Tewi asked, earning her a small smack to the head by Reisen.

"Because they're not old enough to know, that's why!"

After the two disappointed girls left the two women behind, Pheles turned to Lucy. "Well? What do we do now?"

"We're not giving up! Let's go ask someone else!"

OOOOOOOOOO

"You two want to know where babies come from?" Yuuka asked.

"Please tell us, Mrs. Kazami!" Pheles begged. "No one else will for some reason!"

"Is that so? Well…"

"Yuuka…you're not really going to tell them, are you?" Wriggle asked warily. The firefly youkai seemed to be glancing over at Hibachi, who had been trying to draw a sunflower but was looking over at the others with curiosity.

"What's the harm? Well, I don't know how you two girls came about, but Hibachi was grown from a seed."

"I was what?" Hibachi cried out, her voice filled with dismay.

"A seed?" Lucy asked. "Was it a big seed?"

"Oh, it didn't start out very big, but once we planted her, she sprouted quite quickly and we soon found ourselves with a bouncy baby," Yuuka continued with an almost nostalgic-looking smile. "As for the two of you, you'll have to ask your parents."

"Oh…" Both Lucy and Pheles had a feeling that Yuuka wasn't being truthful, but trying to get a straight answer out of Yuuka when she didn't want to give it was not an easy task. The two girls decided to ask elsewhere and left, Hibachi's wails still ringing in their ears.

"You told me I was brought to you by big butterflies!"

OOOOOOOOOO

The girls' next source of information, however, proved just as evasive.

"Well, you see, when two people love each other very much, that love takes the form of a baby and starts to grow inside one of them," Marisa explained. "That's all there is to it!"

"But how does it work?" Pheles asked, her frustration finally starting to surface. "It can't be that simple if no one wants to tell us!"

"Oh, but it is that simple!" Marisa insisted. "Right Alice?"

"Why are you asking me? All I did was bear the child; you were the one that put little Dinah inside of me," Alice replied with a dry smile.

"Hey, hey, don't be like that…"

OOOOOOOOOO

"Well, that didn't work out," Pheles sighed.

"It's not a hard question! Why can't we just get a proper answer?" Lucy pouted. "What do we do now?"

"Well, maybe we can check out some of the books in the library…"

"But those are so hard to read! It'll be just as bad as asking everyone!"

* * *

><p><strong>My sincerest apologies for not updating; I've recently gotten caught up in a few things and could not write as much as I wanted to.<strong>

**I still marvel at how such a simple question becomes so hard to answer when asked by children.**


	5. Show and Tell

**Show and Tell**

Kamishirasawa Keine always loved show-and-tell since it was always funny and rather heart-warming to see the children talk so earnestly about some of their prized possessions. However, there were times when she also couldn't help but have a feeling of dread whenever some of her recent students brought stuff from home; she didn't blame the children and instead blamed the parents for irresponsibly allowing their children to bring such things.

There was that one time when Dinah brought what she had thought was a miniature version of the mini-hakkero that Marisa used for her infamous Master Spark; the thing had gone off and, though it just released a shower of star-shaped danmaku, poor Dinah had been freaked out quite badly. Marisa had been given quite an earful over that by both Alice and Keine.

There was also the time when Sou brought a small hairpin that her parents had given her; all seemed well until the hairpin started to chuckle. Apparently it was meant as a way for Reimu to contact her over long-distance, but it seemed as though Yukari couldn't help but mess around with the communication feature, though she did seem a tiny bit apologetic after finding out she made almost every single child in Keine's class to think that Sou was in possession of a hairpin possessed by some hellish entity.

Luckily, show-and-tell was going rather smoothly for now. The Saigyouji twins were showing off hand-sewn hachimaki from their mother. "We always wear them during practice so that we're always motivated!" Mikage explained. "She made one for Daddy too but she won't wear them for some reason…"

"That's because Daddy said Mommy wrote something embarrassing on hers," Rei giggled; Keine had to stifle a giggle as well since she thought she had a pretty good idea what Yuyuko would've written for Youmu.

As soon as the Saigyouji twins were done, Kazami Hibachi stepped in front of the other awestruck children clutching a flower pot. Inside of the pot was a small plant that seemed to have barely sprouted; it had a purple bud on top of a dark green stem and stubby little leaves that seemed to have developed just recently. "This plant is one of Mommy's new creations!" Hibachi said. "Mommy likes to grow all sorts of plants and she said that this was one of her own creations! It's only a few weeks old, but it's very healthy!"

"Oh, how interesting!" Keine exclaimed. "Do you know what kind of flower it's going to grow into when it blooms?"

"Well…" Before Hibachi could finish, there was a loud buzzing in the air as a fly began to zoom around. Some of the children gave small cries of irritation as they futilely attempted to swat the pest; however, the fly was too fast and eluded every attempt to smash it into a pulp. Keine wondered if she should grab the flyswatter, but frozen when she noticed that the plant in Hibachi's hands was beginning to twitch.

Without warning, the plant's bulb suddenly opened up like a mouth and something that looked like a very thin tongue shot out and skewered the fly. The startled insect began to twitch and convulse as the plant retracted its tongue, dragging the unfortunate fly into its mouth. The children stared in morbid fascination as the plant began to drain the fly of its fluids, the insect's legs thrashing and twitching in its death throes and its wings frantically beating out a frenzied macabre tune.

After a moment of silence, Hibachi looked at the stunned audience and continued her presentation with a big smile on her face. "Mommy says that it's supposed to be for 'pest control.' She says that sometimes bugs don't always listen to Daddy and still try to invade our house, so she needs plants like this one in order to keep them away. She says that if this grows up in a healthy way, it might get very big!"

Keine gave a somewhat troubled smile and clapped along with the other students as Hibachi returned to her seat among the audience; she also made a mental note to be careful the next time she went to visit the Kazamis and to pay much closer attention to some of the more strange-looking plants.

* * *

><p><strong>I honestly would not be surprised if Yuuka kept Triffids or a plant named Audrey in her garden. Got to feel sorry for Wriggle if she does...<strong>


End file.
